Improvement in the manufacture of steel



UNITED STATES PATENT rrIoE.

CHARLES M. NES, OF YORK, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPRQVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STEEL.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 145,005, dated November25, 1873; application filed November 21, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, CHARLES M. Nns, of York, Pennsylvania, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in the Manufacture ofSteel, of which the following is a specifica tion:

This invention relates to the manufacture of steel, either wrought orcast, from ordinary pig or cast iron, by an admixture with the will thenspecify some of the ways in which it may be employed, with or withoutordinary pig, for the production of steel.

The following is one method of producing the silicon pig to be used inthe after manufacture of steel: I charge a blast-furnace, cupola,

or any other suitable furnace for the m anufacture of pig-iron, withcoal and iron ore, in the usual proportions well known toiron-manufacturers; but, in lieu of ordinary iron ore, I use for theore-charge an admixture of equal, or substantially equal, parts ofordinary hematite, or other good iron ore, and the silicious magnetic orOodorus ore. After charging the furnace, I proceed to blow on the chargewith a blast, such as is used in ordinary smeltingfurnaces for theproduction of pig-iron, and, after the charge has been reduced, I runoff the metal into pigs in the usual way. The pig thus produced is whatI term silicon pig, and is efi'ectual for the manufacture of steel,either separately or in combination with ordinary pig-iron. The siliconpig can also be made by simply melting ordinary pig-iron in the cupolaand stirring in from fifteen to twenty per cent. of the Godorus ore inpulverized form Many other ways of making the pig wil readily suggestthemselves to those practically experienced in iron manufacture. 4 Iwish to say that the proportions above given may varythat more or lessthan stated of ordinary ore, or pig or cast iron made from such ore, maybe mingled with the Codorus ore, and that the pig may, if desired, bemade wholly from the Oodorus ore, although this would not, in themajority of cases, be necessary.

I here give an analysis of the silicon pigiron, promising that the samemay vary to some extent: Two ingots, fine grain, silicon 1.13 assay; oneingot, coarse grain, silicon 3.47 assay; one ingot, silicon 7. assay,nearly.

This silicon pig-iron can be used to make steel, or to convert ordinarycast-iron into steel, by simply decarbonizing the same in an ordinarypuddling-fiunace, refinery, blooming- 'fire, Danks furnace, Bessemerconverter, cu-

pola, or any ordinary mode in use for decarbonizing cast-iron. lVhenthis silicon castiron is decarbonized, instead of turning towrought-iron, it is silicon steel.

One of the modes employed is to use a common puddling or reverberatoryfurnace, fettling the same in the usual manner; charge the furnace withfour hundred pounds of com mon pig-iron and two hundred pounds of thesilicon pig-iron, and proceed to treat the same as is ordinarily done inpuddling iron. An excellent silicon steel is thus produced.

Another mode, which is intended for making cast steel, is as follows: Iuse a cupola in conjunction with a Bessemer converter; I melt in thecupola the silicon pig with ordinary pig, taken in the proportionsstated in the preceding example, and then run the molten metal. from thecupola into the converter. I then proceed to blow into the converter, asis ordinarily done in making Bessemer steel. There can thus be produceda fine silicon steel, which may be made even from inferior iron, with orwithout the use of spiegeleisen, and will be capable of hardening andtemperiiw.

The above is sufficient to indicate the manner in which my invention is,or may be, car ried into effect. I do not, of course, limit myself tothe special method of procedure above described, the main and essentialfeature of my invention being the production of steel from an admixtureof the silicon pig with ordinary pig-iron, or from the silicon pigseparately, the special form of apparatus in which these elements arecombined and treatedbeing, of course, dependent, in a measure, upon thequality of the product des'red; nor do I limit myself to the specialproportions of the mixture specified.

The quantity of silicon pig used with the ordinary pig will vary to someextent, according to the quality of the silicon pig. The proportions Ihave given relate to a silicon pig made of equal, or substantiallyequal, parts of good iron ore and Codorus ore. here the silicon pig ismade with less proportion of the Codorus ore, a greater quantity of thepig will be needed to make steel, and, on the other hand, a lessquantity of the silicon pig may be used for the purpose when a greaterquantity of the Godorus ore is used for making said pi The use of thesilicon pig for steel-making purposes derives great importance from thefact that none of the crudities and impurities which are so apt toremain in the mass when the Oodorus ore itself is mingled with theordinary pig or cast iron to be converted into steel, find their wayinto the steel, or mass from which the steel is made, and a better, morehomogeneous, and finer product is thus more readily obtained. Anotheradvantage is, that the silicon pig can be made directly at or in theimmediate vicinity of the mines, and

then transported to any place or any works where it is to be used forthe purpose of making steel. Under the methods now in use for the makingof steel by means of silicon ore, the ore itself must be transported tothe place where it is to be used for steel-making, however distant thatplace may be from the mines; but, under my invention, this is remedied.The silicon pig is equally as efi'ective as, and in some respects betterthan, the Oodorus ore, is much less bulky, can be handled with greaterease, and costs very much less to transport than the ore.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s-

The manufacture of steel from silicon pigiron, either separately, or incombination with ordinary pig or cast iron, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I havehereunto signed my name this 19th day ofNovember, 1873.

CHAS. MOTIER NES.

\Vitnesscs JOHN A. WILsQN, JOHN W. STEWARJ.

